Display devices having color elements typically have a low light utilization efficiency that results from a number of different factors. For example, the inclusion of color filters often results in the absorption of two thirds (⅔) of the light by the color filters and the inclusion of an absorptive polarizer often results in the absorption of half (½) of the light by the polarizer. In addition to polarizers and color filters, the other elements in the color display device may further reduce light utilization efficiency to as little as 3%. Because the light utilization efficiency affects battery life, light source life, display life, the power requirements, optical design and much more, there has been and continues to be a strong impetus to increase the light utilization efficiency. This is lead to a number of improvements to increase light utilization efficiency. For example, fluorescent material has been used to form color elements that are stimulated by a violet or near UV spectrum back light such that improved light utilization efficiency results. Unfortunately, the improved light utilization efficiency of such “improved” color display devices degrades various other performance characteristics such as contrast ratio, viewing angle (contrast ratio over field of view), and stability of color rendition over field of view and others. For example, in the above fluorescent color display device, this degradation may result because the distance between the switching element and the fluorescent material is increased as compared to the distance between the switching element and the color material in a color display device with color filters. This increased distance allows light from the back light to bleed into adjacent pixels (sometimes referred to as a parallax problem) and thereby reduce the quality of the displayed image. Of course many other “improved” configurations are known to those skilled in the art. Unfortunately, the improved light utilization efficiency of such prior art devices has invariably required some trade-off. Accordingly, there is a strong need in the art for color display devices and methods for improving light utilization efficiency without sacrificing other performance characteristics.